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El Clasico Drama 🎭 + Man Utd Shambles 😖 + Bayer Neverlusen 🏆💪
All the goings on from around the world of football, and a look ahead to a massive North London Derby
Erik Jansson
April 23, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes
El Clasico Drama 🎭 + Man Utd Shambles 😖 + Bayer Neverlusen 🏆💪
Hey there MVP,
Another week of ridiculous football. In the Champions League, the English teams were knocked out: Manchester City drew 1-1 with Real Madrid but ended up losing on penalties, whilst Arsenal were beaten 1-nil by Bayern Munich to go out 3-2 on aggregate.
In Spain, Real Madrid won a tight El Clasico thanks to a 90th-minute winner from Jude Bellingham. Meanwhile in Germany, newly crowned Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen kept their incredible unbeaten record going.
With all the craziness going on, this week we return our focus to the Premier League title race. There’s plenty of big upcoming games this week, including midweek matches, but the game you don’t want to miss is the NLD, as Tottenham host Arsenal on Sunday.
Let’s get into it.
Today's game plan…
Don’t Miss This Game 🧐
This Week’s Shocker 😱
Around The World 🌍
Games to Keep an Eye On 👀
Goat Trivia, Meme of the Week & Rate the Play 😄
Tottenham vs Arsenal | Sunday | 14:00 IST
Sunday’s North London Derby is our game to watch. At the time of writing, Arsenal are at the top of the Premier League, but they have a home game against Chelsea to get through. Still, the game against their local rivals is a big one on the calendar —especially when you consider what teams are playing for this season.
Arsenal are still in contention for the league title, although it seems Arteta’s men have lost some of their momentum in recent weeks. With their game in hand, City are now in the driving seat. Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglu’s Tottenham have a chance to snatch 4th and the final Champions League spot from Aston Villa. At the time of writing, Spurs are six points behind 4th-placed Villa with two games in hand. The problem for Spurs is that their two games in hand are against Arsenal and then Chelsea!
Arsenal and Tottenham have played against each other eight times in the Premier League since 2020. Arsenal have won four times, Tottenham have won three, with their most recent match at the Emirates, earlier this season, being a 2-2 draw. Typically, the North London Derby has goals —the last six games have all had over 2.5 goals. However, with Harry Kane gone, Spurs are relying heavily on Son Heung-min in the big games.
Form & Team News
Although Ange Postecoglou is trying to take the pressure off his players, this is a Tottenham team that are currently locked in a tight race with Aston Villa for the last Champions League spot. And they are feeling it. Spurs’ recent form has been mixed. In the last five matches, there’s been two wins, two losses, and a draw. Spurs are leaking goals, against all opposition —they recently suffered a bruising 4-nil loss away at Newcastle.
Spurs are hoping that Richarlison will be back fit for the game on Sunday. The Brazilian forward picked up a knee injury in Spurs' 2-1 loss to Wolves back in February. The other injury news for Spurs is that left full-back Destiny Udogie will be out for the rest of the season after having surgery to correct a thigh injury he picked up in training.
Arsenal have gone through a difficult period recently. Last Wednesday they were knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage...again, after a 1-nil loss to Bayern saw them go out 3-2 on aggregate. Before that Arsenal suffered a shock 2-nil loss to Aston Villa that had football fans saying they’d bottled their challenge for the league title...again. The defeat to Villa was Arsenal’s first defeat in the league this calendar year. But, over the weekend Arsenal got back to winning ways, securing a hard-fought 2-nil away win at Wolves. In advance of the derby with Spurs on Sunday, Arsenal host the wishy-washy Chelsea on Tuesday.
At the time of writing, Arsenal have one major injury concern for the North London Derby (and the game against Chelsea on Tuesday). Defender Takehiro Tomiyasu picked up a knock against Bayern Munich and was subsequently rested for the game against Wolves, he is a doubt for this week’s matches. The positive news is that versatile defender Jurrien Timber is back in training and might be in contention for a place for the game against Spurs. Arsenal will need their whole squad for this final sprint to the end of the season in May.
This Week’s Shocker…
Manchester United did their best to throw away another game…
Conceded:
2 in 4 mins vs Bayern.
2 in 4 mins vs Copenhagen.
2 in 5 mins vs Wolves.
2 in 2 mins vs Liverpool.
2 in 2 mins vs Chelsea.
2 in 5 mins vs Villa.
2 in 5 mins vs Bournemouth.
2 in 8 mins vs Newcastle.
2 in 10 mins vs Newport.
3 in 20 mins vs Coventry.
— 𝗧𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝗴’𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘀 ✍🏼🇳🇱 (@TenHagBall_)
10:13 AM • Apr 22, 2024
3-nil up and cruising with an hour played, Erik Ten Hag’s Man United team conceded three goals in the space of 20 minutes against Coventry City, a team sitting in 8th place in the Championship!
A close VAR offside call saved United from disaster in extra time before the team squeezed through on penalties. After the near defeat, most of the United players looked shaken up and shuffled down the tunnel without much of a celebration. Manchester City await in the final on May 25th. The stats speak for themselves.
Around the world
After conceding a goal in the 81st minute, it looked like Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten run would come to an end, on the weekend directly after their historic title win. But, in the 97th minute, Josip Stanišić scored an equaliser extending Bayer’s run to 45 games in all competitions.
The Brazilian centre-half’s contract with Chelsea expires at the end of this season. Silva turns 40 later this year —is he looking to secure a contract in the US or maybe Saudi, or will he return to his boyhood club of Fluminense in Brazil?
There were goals for Gravenberch and Diogo Jota but the pick of the goals was definitely Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 25-yard free kick. The man has a wand of a right foot,
With Kylian Mbappe an unused substitute, PSG cruised to a 4-1 home win against Lyon. All of the five goals came in a very open first half. The win takes PSG to 66 points, 11 ahead of second-placed Monaco with just five matches left to play.
With Cristiano Ronaldo suspended, Al Nassr got a win against Al Fayha thanks to goals from Sadio Mane. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Saudi Pro League Al Hilal had their match against Al Ahli postponed at late notice due to fixture congestion with the AFC Champions League.
Real Madrid look to have secured the La Liga title beyond any doubt after beating Barcelona 3-2 at the Bernabeu. In an entertaining game, Barca took the lead twice but Real kept responding and in the 90th minute Bellingham banged in the winner.
Games to keep an eye on
Everton vs Liverpool | Wednesday | 20:00 IST
The Merseyside Derby on a Wednesday night, what could go wrong? Sean Dyche's Everton are coming into this derby after beating relegation rivals Nottingham Forest 2-0. Liverpool are booking to keep their title challenge alive.
RB Leipzig vs Borussia Dortmund | Saturday | 14:30 IST
This is a huge match in the race for Champions League qualification. On Saturday, 4th place RB Leipzig welcome 5th place Borussia Dortmund with just 2 points separating the clubs. This should be a wunderbar match.
Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao | Saturday | 17:30 IST
Another Champions League battle here as 4th place Atletico Madrid host 5th-placed Athletic Bilbao. Three points separate the two clubs with just 6 games left to play.
Juventus vs AC Milan | Sunday | 14:00 IST
At the time of writing, AC Milan are gearing up for the derby against Inter. With AC trailing Inter by fourteen points, their season has turned into a battle with JUve for 2nd place. We’ll be watching.
Dundee vs Celtic | Sunday | 15:00 IST
Celtic are looking to take a big step towards the Scottish Premiership title, after Rangers dropped points to Dundee in their last league outing. A win will mean Celtic will maintain their 3 point lead over Rangers, who play against St Mirren earlier on Sunday.
GOAT Trivia
Say congrats to…
Ricardo Kaka [@KAKA], the majestic Brazilian who played for Real Madrid and AC Milan turned 42 on Monday!
Gif by saopaulofc on Giphy
On this day in football…
Back on April 23rd 2003, Manchester United and Real Madrid played an epic Champions League quarter-final match at Old Trafford. The game finished 4-3 to United and features a sensational hat-trick from Brazilian Ronaldo, and cameos from Zidane, Beckham, van Nistelrooy. At the end of the day, Real went through on aggregate, but what a game of football from this classic era.
Goal of the week…
Our goal of the week is Dwight McNeil’s crucial long-range strike for Everton in the game against Nottingham Forest.
Meme of the week
Fan Highlights: Your MVP Reviews!
